Why Mass Effect 4 May Not Feature Many Returning Milky Way Companions

gamerant.com:

Despite the exalted place that Mass Effect occupies for many RPG fans, some might have feared that BioWare's beloved franchise was dead after Mass Effect: Andromeda failed to achieve the same commercial and critical success of its predecessors. It seemed like the momentum of the Mass Effect franchise had stalled, so fans were relieved by the confirmation that BioWare was working on Mass Effect 4. While it will be some years until players actually get their hands on the upcoming title, the knowledge that development is underway was enough to trigger fan speculation.

Not much is known about Mass Effect 4, and it doesn't seem like fans will have their questions answered anytime soon. While a teaser trailer and some initial images have been released, there are still a lot of unknown elements, such as which galaxy the next game will be set in, who the primary protagonist will be, or even Mass Effect 4's new threat now that the Reapers have been dealt with. There are lots of unknowns, but thanks to some fan theories, a few carefully analyzed images, and cryptic comments from the development team, it seems like chances are slim people will see a lot of returning characters in Mass Effect 4.

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It seems as if BioWare is making the Destroy Ending canon for Mass Effect 3, which has several interesting ramifications. Not only is the galaxy recovering from the Reaper invasion, which turned several homeworlds like Earth, Thessia, and Palaven into vicious battlegrounds, but the mass relay system has also been destroyed. This was a vital network that connected the entire Milky Way, and its removal cuts off sections of the galaxy form others.

Humans were a significant target for the